Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Series Review: Worth the Upgrade for the Right Price video

Hey there. I've got the Samsung Galaxy Buds three and the Galaxy Buds three Pro here are they worth an upgrade? Let's find out Samsung's Galaxy Buds three and Galaxy Buzz Three Pro are the company's first earbuds to feature stems as part of their designs. And that has some folks mocking Samsung for creating another Apple Airpods clone in a sea of airpods clones. There's some truth to that. But what ultimately matters is how well these earbuds fit sound and perform. We've got two buds here that are similar in many ways. They share a lot of the same features but do have some differences. The Galaxy buds three which cost 100 and $80 are open buds like the airpods three and are designed for people who don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. Meanwhile, the Galaxy buds Three Pro which costs $250 are noise isolating earbuds like the airpods Pro two both are available in silver or white and their prices are very similar to those corresponding airpods models. Battery life for the Galaxy Buds three Pro is rated up to seven hours with noise canceling off and six hours with it on Galaxy buds, three are rated for up to six hours with a NC off and five hours with it on. Now, it's hard to review two products in a single video. So what I'm gonna do is tell you what I like about these buds and then let you know a few things. I don't like so much. Here's what I like first up is their fit. Some of you may be disappointed that Samsung moved to a stem design, copying the airpods, but both new galaxy buds are lightweight and comfortable to wear and fit my ears. Well, with the buds three, I got a little more secure fit than I did with the airpods three. And with the Three Pro, I was able to pass the seal test in the app with the largest ear tips. Though I would have liked to have an option of using a tip that was just a touch larger, sorry, quick interruption. So initially, we were planning on posting this review video earlier, but as many of you are probably aware, Samsung ran into some quality control issues with the ear tips for the Galaxy Buds three Pro. So their ship date was pushed back to mid August for a lot of folks who pre ordered them. I didn't have any issues with the ear tips and neither did a couple of other people in our office who got early units. So hopefully this is just a minor hiccup. Ok. Back to the review. Next up is their controls. I do like that. These earbuds have pinch controls similar to the airpods as well as swipe controls. For volume adjustment, you just run your finger up the side of either bud to raise and lower volume. And I do think the buds pinch and swipe controls work well. Both bottles have relatively robust feature sets while the Bud three pro have a couple of extra features, the two earbuds share a lot of the same features and have identical cases that offer wireless and US PC charging along with a dedicated Bluetooth button that makes it easier to pair any Bluetooth audio device. They're equipped with Bluetooth 5.4 and ear detection sensors as for water and dust resistance, they have an IP 57 rating which means they can withstand a sustained spray of water. They support audio along with the new Orica feature that allows you to hear of Bluetooth broadcasts in public places like gyms. Samsung's 360 audio feature is also boarded with head tracking like it is with the air pods and their spatial audio feature. I use these buds with an 114 pro along with Samsung's Galaxy flip five. The audio wouldn't automatically switch between my iphone and the flip five. But Samsung users get automatic pairing and switching between their Galaxy devices including laptops. So I was able to pair the buzz with my Galaxy tab eight plus and flip five and have the audio automatically switch back and forth between them. The active noise canceling on the Buzz Three Pro is good and at least on par with the noise canceling. You get with the Galaxy buds two Pro and maybe slightly better that I would say the noise canceling is a touch behind what you get with the airpods Pro two, the Bose Quiet Comfort, Ultra earbuds and Sony WF 1000 Xbox five buds, I tested the noise canceling with an H VAC unit running in my apartment. And those models were able to muffle just a tad more noise from the unit. Of course, how tight a seal you get from the ear tips you're using is crucial to the noise canceling performance. So make sure you have a tight seal. The B three Pros ambient mode which lets sound in the buts also seems very good. You can adjust the levels, but I thought it sounded quite natural at the middle setting. Initially, the buds three Pro have something similar to the airpods Pro two's adaptive audio feature. Samsung says the buds constantly collect and identify surrounding sound and automa adjust the optical level of noise and sound without manual adjustment through adaptive noise control siren detect and voice detect. Basically what's going on is that it's kicking in noise canceling when you need it and then opening the buds up when you don't need it. I was impressed with both earbuds sound quality. So more so with the B three Pro which featured dual drivers, a 10 millimeter dynamic driver to go along with a Plainer Tweeter. Samsung owns Harmon which has brands like JB L and A KG under its umbrella, but there's no longer any sound by A KG stamped on these galaxy buds cases. So Samsung seems to have moved away from that little branding tie in the buds three have a single 11 millimeter dynamic driver and I thought they sounded quite good for open ear buds. They have good clarity and the base performance is also good though like a lot of open ear buds. The buzz three are a little bit shy. I thought the airpods three sounded a touch better. It's not a night and day difference. The airpods three are just slightly fuller sounding and play slightly louder. The Planer Tweeter driver in the Buzz Three Pro does enhance treble performance. Samsung also says the Bu three Pro have dual lamps which helps reduce wireless hiccups. Those wonder how these compare to the Galaxy Buzz two Pro. The Buzz three Pro do sound better. Buds, two pro sound good. But the Buzz Three Pros treble clarity and base definition is appear and they sound cleaner and more accurate overall. I actually thought they sounded a little better than the airpods Pro two. They're a little more dynamic, they just sound a little punchier overall and the trouble has a little more sparkle to it both buds support the Samsung seamless Codec that Samsung says is now capable of delivering 24 bit 96 kilohertz high residue streams. I listen to tracks on my Galaxy Flip five using Quo Buzz and frankly only heard a very subtle difference in sound quality from listening to the same tracks on my iphone using Quo Buzz and Spotify. You have to be a pretty sophisticated listener to hear any differences. The Buzz three bro have lights in their stems or blades as Samsung calls them while the buds three don't. I like them. They let you know when the buds are in pairing mode and they flash when you use the find my feature as the buds make a chirping noise. This would make them easier to find in a dark room. For example, you can also just activate the lights by pinching and holding each bud for a few seconds and the buds around with lights on if that's your thing last but not least I was really impressed with the voice calling performance. Samsung has mostly done a good job with voice calling performance in its previous Galaxy buds bottles. But these new series three models deliver even better voice calling performance with top notch noise reduction. They have three microphones in each bud along with a voice pickup unit, ear buds with the stem design do get the microphones a little closer to your mouse. So that does help with voice calling. My calls using the Galaxy Buzz Three Pro with the noisy streets of New York with some wind. In fact, caller said they could barely hear any background noise and that my voice was mostly clear with limited warbling. Have a listen as I talk with fellow editor, Josh Goldman. All right, I'm making a test call here in the streets of New York City. Just note that, uh the call is being recorded over the internet. So there's a tiny bit of compression. Uh But I'm fact the editor Josh Goldman, uh Josh Shadow, I sound it's very hot here in New York City, so I'm trying not to sweat. Uh but there's a lot of cars going by a fair amount of noise, people walking by as well. Um If you're on the city streets, I, I don't hear any evidence of it. It's, it's very quiet on my end. You might as well be in a closed conference room. Um I can't really hear anything. Um And your voice quality sounds, it sounds good. It's like a typical cell phone uh phone call. So all in all sounds great. Ok. Let's move on to a few things that I don't like or at least don't love about these buds. I do think their design is a little generic. Some have said they're a little cheap looking and that may be so, but the case does have a solid feel to it and the buds themselves don't look any cheaper than the airpods, the blades on the silver models and just to be clear, these are plastic, not metal. They do give the buzz a little bit of a Tesla cyber truck five. So there is that, but some folks may be disappointed the buds don't come in colors to match their new Galaxy smartphones. I also think it's weird that Samsung is given another set of open earbuds active noise canceling like Samsung's earlier Galaxy buds live A K the beans, the buds three have some active noise canceling, but it just doesn't seem to do much because A NC typically doesn't work well with open buds. I couldn't really tell the difference when I turned it on with the buds three though I did notice the sound change slightly when I engage the A NC, maybe there's a bit of ambient sound filtration. But if you're looking for real noise canceling, you want the Galaxy Buzz Three Pro. I didn't love that. The ear tips for the Buzz Three Pro are custom designed for the buzz. Make it a little tricky to get your own tips on there if need be the same is true for the earpods. True, of course. Um And ironically, I was able to get some third party foam tips made for the airpods Pro two to click on to the Buzz Three Pro, but they didn't give me a tight seal according to the seal testing the app. My only other gripe is. I do think that their list prices are a little high. Samsung often runs trade in deals or has discounts on accessories like earbuds when you buy a new Galaxy phone. So most people won't pay anywhere near full price for these. And you shouldn't either. It's hard to say what they're really worth, but probably about 30% less. As I said, my first take of these buds, some of you might be a little disappointed that Samsung gave in and followed Apple's Earbuds approach after determining the stem design work best for the most people, what it's worth. I did. I like the fit these better than that of the galaxy buds two and buds two Pro as well as more recent galaxy buds. Fe I do think they'll fit a wider range of ears for the right price. I have no problem recommending the galaxy buds three to Samsung Galaxy owners as well as other Android users who don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. But the Galaxy Buzz Three Pro are more special and compete well against other premium noise canceling ear buds in their price range, particularly when it comes to sound quality and voice calling performance, which is truly top if you're contemplating upgrading from the Galaxy buds two Pro, the Buzz Three Pro are better, but it's not a massive difference. So I think it really comes down to what kind of deal you can get on the Buzz three pro some of the trade in deals are pretty tempting, but I'm sure some people prefer the Bud Two Pro Stemless design. So that makes it a harder choice. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below and hit the like button. If you found this video informative at all. I'm David Connor for cnet.com. Thanks for watching.